Phaedra desires Hippolytus. Yet she is the wife of King Theseus of Athens. And Hippolytus is the king’s son and Phaedra’s stepson. Tragedy is inevitable.

King Theseus has disappeared into the underworld. Phaedra has lost faith in the king’s return. Her loneliness turns into uncontrollable desire: Hippolytus is to take the king’s place. But he doesn’t care. The only thing he loves is nature. The rejection drives Phaedra mad. With the help of her nurse, she develops a plan: when King Theseus unexpectedly appears at the palace, Phaedra threatens to kill herself and accuses Hippolytus of rape. Theseus then summons his father Neptune to kill Hippolytus. When Phaedra sees her lifeless stepson, she reveals her lie and throws herself on her sword from misfortune and remorse.

Seneca’s artistic treatment of the Greek myth (54 AD) shows Phaedra as a strong female figure, whereas in other adaptations she is described as a passive victim of her fate. Seneca also emphasises the laws of nature as interpreted in Stoic philosophy.

The ensemble of dancers and actors uses powerful physical and linguistic images to scrutinise the consequences of our actions and focuses in particular on the aspect of nature – an attempt to bring antiquity to life as a living laboratory.

With: Thomas Braus, Clémentine Deluy, Silvia Munzón López, Kenji Takagi

Production: Pascal Merighi, Thusnelda Mercy

Stage and costumes: Chloé Wasselin-Dandre

Sound design: Julio César Iglesias Ungo

Video design: Tal Rosner

More info and tickets via schauspiel-wuppertal.de/phaedra